A a new study confirms that not only do we perceive the left side of our face as being more attractive, other people do, too.* Australian researchers reviewed 2,000 selfies and found that a majority showed the left side of the face—what researchers have taken to calling “left-side bias.” The presumptive reason? The left side of the face is controlled by the right hemisphere of the brain, the emotional center, and better reflects our feelings. Indeed, a separate study a few years back found that people were more attracted to the left cheek than the right in photographs apparently because that side is more expressive.
An unscientific study of the portraits on Mia’s walls found no facial favoritism. But of course, the artists’ prerogative is to show their clients in whatever light they choose, or to put expression where there is none—for better or for worse. The French artist Girodet tried to paint as unflattering a portrait of the actress known as Mademoiselle Lange as he could. Yet the painting, now in Mia’s gallery G306, shows her left side. Perhaps he had noticed that Miss Lange—whom he thought vain and adulterous—was indeed more expressive on that side, and he wanted everyone to see just what it was that she was expressing.
*Self-portrait by Anthony van Dyck, c. 1629, in gallery G314 at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. Since van Dyck likely used a mirror to paint this image, that’s probably the right side of his face. There’s also a bias toward facing left in portraits, self or otherwise.